The Consignment Question...Would You Do It On Your Wedding Day?

I am a huge fan of consignment stores. My first experience with the whole consignment process was years and years ago when my brother-in-law consigned a beautiful wooden table he built to a local furniture consignment store. He was able to sell the table without much fuss and someone got to enjoy a beautiful piece of furniture at less than full price.

I never even knew these types of stores existed. My next experience with consignment was after my kiddo was born. A few other moms shared the secret with me. We lived in California at the time and went to a local consignment store to see what all the fuss was about.

Baby Stuff
Even back then, when the economy was in full crazy swing, the consignment store was always packed. It actually makes sense. As a new mom my first child, I did not have a houseful of baby stuff. I was so grateful to receive generous gifts for baby and for the entire family. Most of the gifts were treasured and loved dearly to this day. Others were, well...a bit over the top. And for the most part, we received more than we needed for one little baby. So, I decided to give consigning a try. At first I wasn't so sure about finding anything I would like. But as I perused the store I was stunned to find barely used and sometimes brand new toys, clothes and a ton of other items we actually needed. After consigning out things that we didn't need, we were able to walk away with the things that we really did need.

Most consignment stores have their own unique policy. For the most part, you can either choose to use the credit to buy something new or take the cash, which is usually less than the credit.

These days, I count on our local family swaps and consignment stores to upgrade the stuff that we need with a quickly growing child. I LOVE seeing the stuff my kiddo used go to friends and to local families. We give a lot of our stuff to Goodwill and other local charities, but like many young families, we sometimes find ourselves with too much stuff.

The Consigned Wedding
As someone who loves consignment, I was thrilled when I drove by this new store in my town. I know that many people consign their wedding gowns at "new" gown stores to try to recoup some of the money spent on that one big day. Personally, I still have my dress boxed up in the hopes of...well I'm not quite sure. And this is probably the same state of mind many women find themselves in. "I've spent all this money on a dress, and love it. But I'm ready to clear out and move forward." This is where a store like this Gown & Glove can be a huge help. This is the first store that I've seen which focuses solely on barely used (and sometimes new) wedding gowns.

Here is the story of the creators of Gown & Glove from the About section on their site. I love their story and bet that they are not alone in their feelings:

Gown and Glove has been my dream since 2005 when my husband Dave and I were helping our twin daughters plan (and pay!) for their weddings which were 10 weeks apart. We were looking for ways to cut costs but purchasing a used wedding gown was the farthest thing from my mind.

During a shopping trip with one of our girls we walked into a bridal shop and began to look around. The owner greeted us and said "These gowns are here on consignment. Some are new and others are used". My first thought was "Oh, we aren't going to find anything here", but as we began to look there were some beautiful gowns that looked brand new and were a fraction of the prices we had seen in other salons. We selected a few for her to try on but all the while I was still a bit hesitant about the idea of purchasing a wedding dress from a consignment shop.

Well you may have guessed the end of this story. My daughter came out of the dressing room wearing the perfect dress. She looked beautiful. All my hesitation vanished and we walked out the door carrying a designer gown purchased for half the retail price. Her sister's gown was purchased at David's Bridal and was every bit as beautiful. Above are pictures from each wedding. Click on each picture and see if you can guess which one is wearing the consigned dress?

We want to provide the same experience for you! Stop by and see us. You may be surprised at how much you can save on your wedding budget.

Your Perspective

Would you buy a consigned gown? Have you gone the consignment route for your wedding? I'd love to hear your story.